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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29084592">breath of the mountain river</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldfinchex/pseuds/goldfinchex'>goldfinchex</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red Velvet (K-pop Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(Might have more parts to this!), Alternate Universe - 1930s, Alternate Universe - Creatures &amp; Monsters, Alternate Universe - Historical, Colonial Korea, Colonialism, F/F, Historical References, Inspired by Kimetsu no Yaiba, Inspired by Monster (Irene &amp; Seulgi), Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Water Breathing Style Kang Seulgi, You don't need to know anything about KNY to read this, demon Irene, please forgive my historical inaccuracies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:16:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29084592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldfinchex/pseuds/goldfinchex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>The demon’s smile only grew wider at the sound, her eyes stitching into – a demon’s eyes cannot crinkle in a smile. She was not supposed to think that a demon’s regal face looked <i>pretty</i>. </p>
</blockquote>1930s Korea/Japan AU: Seulgi only existed to slay demons. A debt changes things.
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi, Kang Seulgi &amp; Kim Jongin | Kai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>breath of the mountain river</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wanted a water-themed title, so i stole it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JQ6s0gUYGA">from a song of the same name</a>. There's a lyrical version <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuT66dtqNF4">here</a>, though I belatedly realised《吹灭小山河》kind of means to blow/extinguish a small mountain river.</p><p>Youtube has been reccing me much erhu-based music recently, which is semi-appropriate for this fic, excluding the fact that Korea is now a separate state from China and the haegeum/erhu are... different instruments. Music includes:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHmqcPP4qmQ"> sky castle's we all lie</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot-GWmQisF4">this cover of tanjiro's song</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ptjmFnxB0">春よ、来い</a>.</p><p>and on terminology: i opted to use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_exonyms">Japanese exonyms </a>for various place names in the then-colonial Korea.<br/>•	Keijō: Seoul<br/>•	Fuzan: Busan<br/>•	Yondō: 影島 "ヨンド": Yeongdo</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Ah, land ahoy!"</p><p> The stretch of dark grey seas finally came to an end and the rocky outcrops of Yondō appeared on the horizon. Behind Yondō, she knew, were the sandier beaches of Fuzan proper. As they grew closer, she could make out the outline of a lighthouse in the distance, perched tall and white against the short green shrubs covering the cliffs. </p><p>Seulgi had expected to feel a slight thrill to see the land of their ancestors for the first time, but her insides were calm as she stood there, pulling her coat more tightly against the winter winds. Maybe when they finally step on land, she would feel at home. Maybe there would be something. These lands were the only thing she had left of her mother's memory: she had always talked about Korea with great affection.</p><p>Her mother was very young when she left the country with her father, but at night, when she had combed through the fuzz of Seulgi's long hair, she would talk about home. Home was the green stretch of fields of the glittering blue of sky in the summer.</p><p>These were the lands in which her mother recounted, fondly, the time she slipped into the fishpond on her family's lands, nearly drowning because she hadn't learned how to swim then. Mother would tell her of how their home had space for potatoes in their garden, to dry the pollack that they bought from the Monday market, and more importantly, had allowed her to run in a dusty courtyard, barefooted, with her hoard of siblings.</p><p>It was here in Korea that her mother had been charmed by a learned man from the city – her father – who had made her mother smile widely with his summer songs. Seulgi barely remembered him, but knew he used to pick her up, twirling her in the air, and called her his <em>princess</em>. She never wanted to scoff at the memory because they were honeyed and beautiful, but in this world, she could never be a princess. It was all kinds of blasphemy, and she would never think of it.  </p><p>By her side, Kai's head leaned against the side of the ship, his grip white against the railings. At her announcement, he groaned, slumping closer to the wooden deck. He should be glad that he wasn't stowed on a lower deck, stuck with the rest of the poorer denizens.</p><p>"We're almost there."</p><p>Kai groaned again. If possible, he sank further into himself. Seulgi never knew her friend would ever look <em>this</em> sick. Ever since they were drafted into the Corps, he was always running about, and had never spent a single day in bed, sick.</p><p>"You're too loud," he complained, weakly.</p><p>She laughed. Everything was always too loud for him. She would spare him, though, from any of her further ribbing. Hopefully, he would remember her kindness when they make their way out of the bustling port later – her nose was never too fond of the morning catch.</p><p>The porters tried to insist that they helped Seulgi with her luggage, but she ignored them. They were travelling light anyway. They had a suitcase of clothes each, and a pack filled with all their camping needs. Ordinarily, they'd wander about with less and just sleep on the rough, but their latest mission boded to last longer than they usually did. </p><p>She knew their crows were following them, ready to issue new instructions should they receive another missive from another of their corvid counterparts. But for now, Kai and Seulgi were the unfortunate bodies tasked for the Korean mission. She had heard that there were a few slayers that have already been sent to the Peninsula, but the Corps had been running a tight ship lately, with their forces stretched thin all over the Empire, particularly on the mainland.</p><p>Lately, however, there were more and more slayers sent southwards into Okinawa, with the spate of demons popping up in the southern parts of the island. She should write in her next letter back to Headquarters that perhaps, Kai's weak stomach would kill him should they have to sail to that southern island.</p><p>Muzan Kibutsuji's demise had unfortunately, caused more problems that the Corps had anticipated. Following the <em>confrontation</em>, what remained of the Corps scattered. After all, most of the Kibutsuji demon's progeny dissolved into specks of ash in the wake of his death.</p><p>It took a few too many rumours afterwards to realise that the temporary disbandment of a thousand-year long militia was a mistake. That demons, not of the Kibutsuji line, once more walked the grounds of the Empire. In truth, they could have foreseen it. The Peninsula and the lands north of it had been rumoured to have been swarmed by demons, savage in their own right. But with Muzan Kibutsuji in Japan, those demons had not sought to encroach on a territory with reins held so tightly by a millennium-old lord. Why fight a demon lord for his lands when you could have easier pickings in a destitute country?</p><p>The Corps reformed quickly afterwards. In less than two years after Kibutsuji's killing, they had forged themselves together again, bound by the singular purpose of ridding demons from their world. Or so she had learned growing up under the tutelage of her instructors.</p><p>Seulgi and Kai were brought in by the Corps young after the tragedy in her family, and the years had made her proficient with the blade and in a tongue that her mother could barely speak. In turn she found that sometimes her mouth remembered certain words, but her brain could not draw them from the depths of her mind. Her parents would both be ashamed. But this did not matter. Not now, when her life was dedicated to killing the demon kind that plagued the world. </p><p>She knew, perhaps, that her ancestors would hate the thought of her, a <em>girl</em>, fighting for the Corps. An organisation that often worked too closely with both military and zaibatsu alike. She could not quite agree with <em>everything </em>the Corps did, but she was not granted a nichirin blade to carve questions out of her employers.</p><p>And so, here they were, with the blessings of the Emperor himself, here to exact His Will and rid the world of the darkness that threatened to chase the sun from the world.</p><p>Kai would laugh at her for being dramatic, she was sure. But her friend was still a queasy green, and she kindly relieved him of his luggage. At least he tolerated trains well enough. A  ride north would take them to Keijō shortly enough, and from there, they were meant to clean up the mess spilling southwards from the wars across China, not least in the northeast.</p><p>Demons scented blood. But more precisely, they came <em>from </em>blood. Those that thrived as demons knew that blood made them stronger, and they sought carnage out. </p><p>Sharks, the lot of them.</p><p>They found their Fuzan contact easily enough. He wasn't abashed about advertising his association with the Corps, this bespectacled man behind a bank counter, a silver wisteria brooch gleaming on his starched collar. He gave a thin, bloodless smile, recognising their standard issue even under their haori.</p><p>"Welcome, sir." He spoke only to Kai. Which was to be expected. She was used to it by now, but it used to annoy her greatly.</p><p>"My sister and I would like to make a withdrawal from the bank."</p><p>"You are the head of household?"</p><p>"Ah, yes. I am Kamado Kai. This is my sister, Kamado Suki. We would like to make a withdrawal."</p><p>Their names were scribbled onto a note. "Ah, Kamado-san. I was told to expect you. Please wait for a moment. I will be back shortly." </p><p>At least this Dai-ichi employee was not the sort to chatter. Small mercies.  </p><p>He had a stash of money prepared for them, a generous sum considering all they had requested from the Corps this time was enough funds for a trip to the Keijō stop. But as per usual, the Corps had outdone themselves. Flush with money from the Imperial coffers, the money <em>had </em>to go somewhere.  Seulgi eyed the image of someone she supposed was a Confucian scholar printed on the foreign Yen. <em>Bank of Chosen</em>. </p><p>"Kamado-san, if I may." He paused, and Kai nodded his assent, confused that the man still had words for them even after handing over their funds. "You should be careful. There are rumours that the fighting in northeast will get worse before it gets better. The Army wants more than Tokyo desires for it. That far north…" His voice trailed off before he gathered himself. "Stay safe."  </p><p>"Thank you, sir. We must be off now."</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>The empty, brown fields to the east of Keijō stretched out endlessly beyond the city walls. Harvest was well behind them and the cold up here came down quickly, harsh, cold and dry. Patterned with crows, the sky hung overcast over them, threatening its winter weight over them.  </p><p>For Seulgi and Kai, who were used to the warmer humidity of the Kanto plain, they thanked the stars that fighting kept them warm. Otherwise, both of them found the heavy drapes of cloth that they had to wrap around themselves to prevent their bones freezing to bits utterly cumbersome. It was almost as bad as the time they were holed up in Hokkaido in the depths of winter. It was perhaps, worse then, when their Tokyo fashions drew the suspicion of every Ainu they walked past.  </p><p>Up here, the locals have mostly retreated into their homes, or edged around them, clearly unwilling to approach them. When Korean spouted from their mouths, they would eye their padded coats with wariness, but never quite fled from the side.</p><p>The children they met were curious, eager to meet the strange travellers walking through paddy fields for no apparent good reason. Seulgi and Kai learned to keep sweets in their pockets, imported treats that cost a small fortune to these villagers. It was what little they could do in the way of appeasement – children were easier to win when their teeth were stained brown from melted chocolate.</p><p>They spent the better part of a month weaving in and out of these fields, hacking off the heads of the demons that had somehow made their way this far west. Based on reports, the demons out here were largely weak, where the Army itself had set out on missions to eliminate some of the lesser beings themselves.</p><p>A rumour she did not want to confirm was that said Army kept its own collection of demons, appeased by those they plucked from colonies and backwater regions alike. Then again, demon feed or not, girls have always been pulled from poor communes for unsavoury reasons.</p><p>At night, when she went to bed, it was all she could do to not think about these things. Her room at the wisteria crested house was warm, and her futon thick against the freshly laid tatami, the wafts of igusa still clinging to the flooring.  </p><p>When they left their lodgings and made their way through the fields again, they were immediately swarmed by the children. </p><p>"Hyung! Look, we got these from someone who came by too!"  </p><p>The boy flashed a gummy smile, his front teeth missing. When he opened his hands, it was to the glint of a wisteria brooch.</p><p>Kai eyebrows shot up. "Oh? Can I have that?" </p><p>The boy paused, considering. "I didn't even give it to umma and appa," he pointed out. "The men who gave it to me said to only give it back to the ugly man coming through. But you aren't ugly."  </p><p>"What?" Kai straightened, getting up from his squat.  </p><p>There were only a few of the other slayers who'd call him as such. It was held in some general consensus that Kai <em>was </em>one of the better looking slayers, and each scar he added to his body only augmented the charm.  </p><p>"You can give me the brooch, yes? What did that rascal want to tell me?"</p><p>"Oh… I don’t know." The boy looked around, at the glittering eyes of his friends around him. "Maybe, you can give us more of the candy? It is only fair."  </p><p>Seulgi laughed. "You drive a hard bargain, don't you?" She eyed him, critically. "Wouldn't you make a good merchant one day, make your fortune in a big city?"  </p><p>The boy nodded, solemnly, his eyes wide, as he held up his bony arms. "Hyung, I want my end of the deal first."  </p><p>"Sure, sure," Kai fished in his pockets, pulling up a bag of the sweets. "Now, if you see that hyung again before we do, tell him that he's uglier, ok?"</p><p> The boy snatched the bag from Kai's hands, peered into it, counting the sweets carefully. Then he smiled, satisfied that he was going to let go of the brooch to a good price. A fair merchant he was, and he deposited the brooch into Kai's outstretched hand.  </p><p>"And, the message?" Kai prompted, before the boy lost himself to a sugared frenzy with his friends.  </p><p>"Oh yes! He said that they would be in a stop to the east." </p><p>"A fox's trail," another girl piped up. "He said that was what he was following."  </p><p>Seulgi and Kai looked at each other, silent understanding passing between them. </p><p>So that was what they were hunting. </p><p>"Thank you, kid." Kai dug in his pockets again. The kids were too skinny. It was a bad year, especially for the colonies. "Kids!" he called at them. "A present for your parents! Each of you, take ten notes each."  </p><p>"What's it?" one of the smaller children asked, drool still dribbling from the sides of his mouth.</p><p>Kai ruffled his head, careful to not let his sleeves graze the snot before he handed out the cash to the flurry of hands reaching for him, "Just something that will get you food. Now, we'll be off. Be good, okay?"</p><p>As they walked away, Seulgi nodded her approval at her companion. She wished she could do more. Whatever that meant.</p><p>But for now… she sniffed the air. It was faint, the wet scent of musk she could finally put a name to.</p><p>The hunt for the kitsune began.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>It took them slightly more than a week to track the other slayers down. The wisteria broach still smelt faintly enough of its former owner. Following the scent was easy enough. By their ninth day on the road, they came across the smouldering embers of the slayers' campfire. The tent, still pitched, were devoid of their occupants, the pair of bedrolls unceremoniously unrolled. Two unwashed bowls were strewn by the fireside, remnants of what she supposed was gruel dried against the sides of the bowl.  </p><p>The tent smelled familiar though–   </p><p>"Hey, Kai! Took you long enough to get here. You guys got lost or something?" </p><p>Seulgi and Kai groaned when they saw the two slayers, hauling a pot with them. Back when the two were still stationed in Japan, the two men were  a rank above their then <em>mizunoe</em> level. Plucked out of their homes late, Sehun and Chanyeol spoke Korean fluently and were the logical picks for a posting in Korea. They were the only zainichi in the Corps they still went by their Korean names whenever they could. </p><p>She thought they had seen the last of them.</p><p>Apparently not.  </p><p>Sehun she could tolerate.</p><p>Sure, he was a little weird, but his rough Japanese lent to some hilarious moments. He still had that ridiculous haircut – a too-long fringe that she swore was bound to get in his eyes when they fought.</p><p>Chanyeol? Not so much. He was prone to hysterics and too fond of kissing the ground that Kai walked on. She almost wished that Kai had let the demon pull Chanyeol into the abyss. But alas, Kai was too much of a softie for that. And her dear, awkward friend never quite knew what to do whenever Chanyeol fawned over him.  </p><p>Still, Chanyeol made himself useful when they last travelled together. His utter hero worship of the younger man meant that he would rush to set up camp for Kai. And he also carried snacks with him to bribe <em>her</em>. Without which, she was sure, she would prefer that he was gone.  </p><p>Turning, Seulgi greeted them first, tilting her head. "Chanyeol-san, Sehun-san." </p><p>"Now, no need for formalities, Suki! We slayers are equal in rank now. Congratulations on your promotions." Chanyeol grinned, and slapped Kai on his shoulders.  </p><p>"You will forgive him, Suki-san." Sehun requested, but his lips were curled upwards anyway. "You are well?" </p><p>"Thank you. Yes," Kai clipped, unhappily massaging his shoulders. "You're hunting the kitsune?"</p><p>"It's so like you to cut straight to business," Chanyeol complained. "Can't we sit down and have dinner before we talk business? Come on, I've not seen in guys in so long!"  </p><p>They set the pot down beside the fire. Sehun grabbed some kindling from their tent and crouched beside the fire, working it before he placed the pot over it.  </p><p>Seulgi placed her pack down, rolling her shoulders. "I <em>would</em> prefer to use the last of daylight to snuff a demon out." </p><p>"But food! I've never known you to refuse a meal!" Chanyeol protested.</p><p>At that, her stomach betrayed her, growling at the scent of whatever wafted from the pot. If she was correct, it was probably venison stew. Water deer – or as Kai preferred to call them, vampire deer – teemed in these lands.   </p><p>She slumped. "Fine. We shall eat before we go. Kai?"</p><p>"That's fine. But – while it's cooking, you can explain your quarry to us."</p><p>Chanyeol groaned. "You guys are no fun." At a glare from Kai, he sobered quickly. "Okay, yes, we are. We've found its lair – I'm sure you can smell it, Suki?"  </p><p>When she confirmed she could, he pulled them with him to a tree stump and spreading a roll of paper across it. He pulled a flashlight out so they could see that he had marked the paper with little a few diagrams, and a few circles and lines that she belatedly realised were his notes she <em>could</em> read but barely.  </p><p>Chanyeol continued his explanation, pointing at the map as it did so. Sehun chipped in from time to time, filling in on gaps in information. But for the most part, he was content to tend to the fire, poking at it periodically.  </p><p>The kitsune they were hunting was only slightly to the northeast of their campsite.</p><p>They first learned of the demon from a drunken merchant they shared drinks with in Keijō. He had rambled on and on about how his dog – a local jindo, its face healing from week-old slashes – was attacked by a fox. A fox which it swore had been a pretty girl just seconds earlier. But he had, alas, been too drunk to tell for sure. Sehun had given the man his thanks, but he clearly felt nothing but disgust for a drunkard.</p><p>When reported, the kasugai crows following the two had issued the order: put down the kitsune if they could. Backup would come.</p><p>All around the approximate location of the den were the tallest of trees, shrouding the burrow from the eye of any casual observer. The forest was haunted, or so said the nearby villagers. Kids that went in to play had never returned. None of the village children were allowed to venture into the forest. Ghost stories about the demon/monster/spirit lurking within had many a variation.</p><p>In the time that Chanyeol and Sehun had found the lair, it had stolen no less than six villagers from the vicinity. It moved quickly and silently, stealing in and out of its forest under their noses. Chanyeol was obviously bothered by how they had failed to save those villagers, knowing that the kitsune claimed more lives than the two would know of. But without a nose like Seulgi's, neither could track a demon when it took on a good disguise. And the kitsune were some of the best at wearing another's skin.  </p><p>This demon that they were hunting was probably old, Chanyeol warned. Neither slayer wanted to engage the kitsune alone, without backup, knowing that they'd probably be shredded to pieces. For all they knew, they were dealing with a nine-tailed fox. And a nine-tailed fox was the most dangerous. None of them have ever fought a kitsune before.  </p><p>Kitsune were the stuff of legends. Legends that existed even before the time of Muzan Kibutsuji. The kind of demon that stalked the lands even in the Heian period.  </p><p>But the crows had ordered them to track this demon and kill it. It was an order they would not refuse.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know about you, but I am <em>not </em>going to just walk in there y'know," Sehun grumbled. </p><p>Chanyeol only sighed. "I can go first, if you'd like." </p><p>Seulgi shook her head. <em>It </em>was there, an unmistakeable stench of something too close <em>to dog</em> to be anything else, and yet, there was something too close to copper. "It's there. There's blood." And, as she pulled in another deep breath, trying not to gag, "There are bodies. And something else. I don't know what it might be." </p><p>"Well, what options do we have?" Chanyeol hissed. "We're almost there, and–"</p><p>"Smoke. We could smoke it out," Kai suggested. Then he looked around them, pressing his palm against damp bark, sighing as he brushed against the thin sheet of ice. "It's just snowed not long ago. No luck." </p><p>"Well, there's nothing we can do about it," Sehun shrugged, his shoulder sagging slightly before he steeled himself, straightening. "I hate to say it, but Suki-san, will you head in first? You can smell them best." </p><p>But Sehun could certainly see them best. She had almost snorted when he had pulled out a helmet with a lamp strapped to it. He was a shining beacon for all to see. Perfectly illuminated for all the demons below, if anyone wanted her opinion. But she supposed that for him, it was the best way to see into the night, so she didn’t comment on it. It was probably a better option than Chanyeol's torch – it would be cumbersome in battle. </p><p>She acceded. "Okay. I'll head in first with Kai. Sehun, please do us the honour of leading the rear. And… take care not to blind us with your lamplight."</p><p>"Yes ma'am," Sehun gave her a mock salute. "Let's go."</p><p>Her party followed as she crept into the burrow, pushing aside the reeds to begin her descent downwards. Unlike most burrows she had seen, the kitsune's burrow was far wider, and she suspected, also far deeper.</p><p>As the others entered and the reeds rustled behind her, she sorely wished that there was more <em>air</em> down here. Even though it was fairly wide for what it was, the underground air was too thick, heavy with the stench of stale musk and decay. Her nose rebelled against her, and her eyes watered.</p><p>She descended, sword drawn, her grip tight on her weapon. There wasn't enough space for more than one of them to descend at a time, and she was not quite willing to become be served as tartare should the kitsune appear.</p><p>Her boots kicked something hard and a distinct rattle of bones rolling downwards makes her heart freeze.</p><p>A rat, fat on the spoils of scavenged rich meals, squeaked when Chanyeol's light shone upon it. It wasn't as if she had never <em>seen</em> one of these things – they were everywhere, not least when they were camping – but her hair stood straighter on the back of her neck as it hissed at her, its raised fur swelling the rodent's already monstrous size.    </p><p>Down and down they went, delving into this darkness.</p><p>"I hear it," Kai whispered. "It's near."</p><p>They take a few steps further and soon enough, she could hear its breathing too, a throaty, angry noise.</p><p>It was waiting for them as the tunnel opened into a large, cavernous hole.</p><p>She barely had time to register how big the fox was – even as it was curled on its haunches, she was sure it was taller than Kai – before a huge paw swept at her. She dodged to the side, rolling quickly to the ground as a tail followed its swipe.  </p><p>She couldn't quite make out the number of tails on its being, but she wasn't going to take any chances. A five-tailed fox would kill her just as easily as one with all nine tails.  </p><p>"Get the tails! A kitsune's spirit lives on as long as it has all–" Sehun's shout was interrupted as he avoided one of the other fox's tails. "It's <em>spiked, what the fuck?" </em> </p><p>"It's a demon, kid," Kai bit out as he parried an attack with his blade too. "Shit, there are prisoners in the next room!"  </p><p>"What?" Chanyeol gasped. "We have to get them out–"</p><p>"Right you are," Kai gritted out, winded from yet another swish of the fox's tail. "How many fucking tails does this thing have–"   </p><p>"I will get them, you guys, distract this thing!"  </p><p>"Wait, Suki—"</p><p>She wound through a flurry of tails, jumping through the hurdles and emerged on the other end with only a scratch to her elbow from a particularly vicious slap. She had to make sure the demon's prisoners were okay. If they were injured, each second <em>mattered </em>to them. </p><p>" —You don't know if they're already demons too! Besides – they can't just <em>run out</em> right now!" </p><p>Shit. Kai was right.  She ground her teeth. This close, she could hear their weak cries even over the crash of the fight around her. Their feeble whimpers and strained croaks. A child's high wail, thin and plaintive as she cried for her mother. </p><p>There was no choice. They would have to kill the kitsune first.  </p><p>"A little help here please!" Kai screamed. "This fucking dog is too strong—"  </p><p>Behind her, a fox had Kai's pinned to the ground, who kicked wildly at the demon above him. It wasn't the same beast, she realised. It was smaller, with only two tails, and unlike the golden furred giant, it was a smaller, ashen coloured thing.  </p><p>Whipping around, Seulgi leapt at the demon pinning Kai down. In its bloodlust, the smaller fox wasn't paying attention as she rushed it. With a whirling strike, she lobbed off one of its tails, and spun around again to avoid the retaliating lash of the other one. She barely registered his thanks, drowned out by the yowl of the kitsune as it breathed its last.  </p><p>Kai's face was red from the strain, knowing that it could very well have killed him if he lay trapped a moment longer. </p><p>Recovering from her strike, she moved to pick Kai up from the ground. "You owe me one, idiot."</p><p>She spun away.</p><p><em>One, two, three</em> – the arc of her sword met the end of another tail. She barely dodged in time as another demon appeared in her peripheral, and she barely ducked in time to avoid being flung against the wall.  </p><p>There were so many of them now. Sehun was still engaged with the larger demon, but Chanyeol, too, was fending off a horde of – she gasped in realisation – fox cubs. If only she was lucky enough to only fight the cubs. But its enraged siblings chose to fight her instead.   </p><p>There were more and more of them. They were coming from the other room – chances are, there were other tunnels leading deeper underground. Shit.  </p><p>She was not so lucky the next time a fox charged at her, running straight into her chest and sending her flying backwards.  <em>There were just so many of them. </em>Her back met the back of the wall.  </p><p>The impact stole her breath and a shock of pain shot through her. <em>Damn it</em>, she cursed, feeling something crack underneath her chest as she dropped her sword unceremoniously.  </p><p><em>Might be a rib</em>. <em>Probably a rib. Or two. </em> </p><p><em>It's just a rib. </em>She pressed her eyes together, breathing. A breath. Another. <em>Not like it hadn't happened before. </em> </p><p><em>Come on, Seulgi. Survive, and get the blade. </em> </p><p>With that, she scrambled for the sword, punching a fox in its face – thankfully a smaller one – as it tried to get in her way. The cub, batted to the ground, hissed in surprise.  </p><p>She made sure it was the last sound the cub would make.  </p><p><em>In battle, you must fight like a sword. Sharp. Precise.</em> </p><p><em>If you forget you are a sword – the wooden blade had slammed against the rock – you break. Just like this. </em> </p><p>Just like the way her ribs cracked against the wall. It hurt. She sucked in shallow breaths, willing herself to forget how much it hurt. She had endured worse. This pain was nothing compared to what she had suffered before.</p><p>She gnashed her teeth together and licked her lips.</p><p><em>Fight first, think later</em>.</p><p>She channelled everything she had into the fight.</p><p>Kitsunes were new to her. But it was a bulky thing, with too many tails in a cave too low for its large form. She could use that to her advantage. The others could deal with the smaller demons.</p><p>What did the old stories say? She struggled to remember. But she certainly knew that with all its tails, a kitsune would continue to live. In those appendages it stored years and years of blood and hate, that essence powering whatever cursed soul still remained underneath that muscle and fur.</p><p>She took off into a running leap at one of the tails. Missed. She quickly dropped into a roll, pressing her body flat against the floor as a tail flung its way towards her head.</p><p>With a grunt, she stopped her roll and staggered back to her feet.</p><p>“Hey, you dog!” She yelled at it. “Look at me!”</p><p>Her taunting cry worked. Small mercies. It charged at her, all of its tails spread out like a fan and maybe this was a <em>bad idea</em> because where was she going to run?</p><p>“Chanyeol! Oi!”</p><p>He got the message and with renewed vigour, sent two of the pursuing smaller demons flying with a swing of his sword.</p><p>Determination lit his eyes as flames ignited around his form. His feet pushed off the stone walls of the cave and his blade found purchase against one tail. Another leap. Two. A mid-air spin. Three.</p><p>All three tails fell to the ground. The air was saturated the stench of monster flesh sizzling as they begun to disintegrate.</p><p>“Thanks, Chanyeol!”</p><p>The kitsune responded with another enraged cry, its eyes shining with clear anger.</p><p>From there, she wasn’t sure how much longer passed as the four of them drew on their breath styles to fight.</p><p>Mid-battle, she saw the reason that made Chanyeol and Sehun such a good pair fighting together: Chanyeol’s flames were propelled by the gusts of wind spinning from Sehun’s blade. It really <em>was </em>a wonder how he managed to perfect a wind breathing style when there weren’t fighters practising that anymore.</p><p>The din of the battle still rang in her ears as she scanned the shadows of the cave, breathing as deeply as she could, trying not to wince too audibly. With each breath she separated greedy pants for oxygen from the traces of demon rank in the air. There was nothing that told of any demon anymore. All the same, she tried not to shudder at the bones that littered the floor.</p><p>"That's the last of them," Chanyeol confirmed as he swept his light around the cave. </p><p>She was the first to enter the other room, stumbling into it. She would have to get her injuries looked at later. There were too many warm bodies in there. The stench of copper and rotting flesh in this narrowed space made her queasy. Sniffing her way through it, she begun to untie ropes, hearing relieved exhales from the prisoners as their wrists were freed from their binds.  </p><p>Being tied was never a pleasant experience. She tiredly nodded at them whenever they thanked her even as she realised they couldn't see her until the others came in with their torches. She was worked at the knots tying the child's arms together, trying to soothe the kid, making shushing sounds the whole time. </p><p>Then she felt it, a sharp bite closing deep into her wrist. The chill of a demon's clasp coursed through her veins and Seulgi cried out, frozen in place as the demon <em>sucked </em>greedily upon her wrist, claiming Seulgi's blood for itself. Its eyes were closed, as if it was <em>savouring </em>the feeling of a human's blood coursing through its frigid body. Seulgi smelled her: sour with fear, tanged with desperation and tinged with – if her senses were true – a bitter drop of regret.  </p><p>Seconds of an eternity later, its teeth unclasped from her wrist.</p><p><em>Her blood. </em> </p><p>Behind her, she could hear Chanyeol's soft gasp. </p><p>The tongue is warm this time as it descended upon her wrist again, swiftly licking a firm strip against the opening. Only for it to gaze up at her, blood-red eyes wide against the black sclera, the hot, wet blood dripping from the sides of its blood-red lips, marring the ashen white skin of the demon.  If she didn't know any better, she would have said that the demon was trying to apologise.</p><p>With its sharp ears, wildly tangled dark hair, and its unflinching cat-slit pupils, Seulgi could almost be fooled into thinking that this aberration was just another overgrown feline. But its horns, the colour of the blood already crusting against Seulgi's skin, made her think otherwise, every instinct screaming at her to swing her sword at it.</p><p>"Suki!"  </p><p>His yell jerked her out of her reverie, and she found her hands drawing her sword from its sheath, moving to attack the demon that <em>bit</em> her–  </p><p>But it was gone.  </p><p>"What the–"  </p><p>"Where did it go?"</p><p>Chanyeol and Seulgi stared at each other, clearly confused by its sudden disappearance. It was as if it wasn't just here seconds ago. And if her senses were true – as if the demon didn't lay <em>dying</em> on the ground before it claimed her blood for itself.</p><p>"You saw it?" She wanted to confirm it. The horned demon was right here. Wasn't it? It must've been here. He must've seen it. The marks on her wrist didn't appear out of thin air. </p><p>Kai came crashing into the room. "Hey, Suki! You called me an idiot! Idiot, me? How many times <em>have I</em> saved you, dumbass? Please–" he reached to grab her hand before he froze, staring at the crescent marks against her skin.</p><p>"You– You were…" He shrank back, pulling his head into his arms. "No. No. You <em>have </em>to be joking, right, right? You can't have been bitten, you <em>fucking moron</em>."   </p><p>She gave herself a moment as she stared at her wrist. It would be a <em>waste</em>, to have risen in the ranks like this, only to fall to some starving demon she couldn't even identify because she was careless.</p><p>"There's nothing I can do about it so, for now, we'll <em>not </em>talk about it." She forced her breathing to stay even. "Help me with the rest of the prisoners, okay?"  </p><p>Kai gaped at her before he gave a curt nod, blinking back something <em>wet</em> as he moved to untie the remaining ropes. "That thing. It's not dead, is it?"  </p><p>"I don't know," Seulgi admitted.  </p><p>She tried to rack her brain for any memory of that giant fox, attempting to defend its lair against four invaders. A seven-tailed fox. Not nine. </p><p>She knew her sword had not cleaved its head off its furry shoulders. Nor had the others. And now, it fled, its remaining tail between its legs.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>She was grateful that her companions were well enough to carry the weakened prisoners back to the nearby village. The ones who were still alive enough to be <em>recovered</em> were, unfortunately, too few. The remainder… she swallowed at the thought of having to leave them behind. The other survivors had thanked them, assured them that they could have <em>done nothing</em> to save the others. Their saviours had done all that they could. But all the same, guilt swelled in her.  </p><p><em>If only they had gotten there sooner…</em> </p><p><em>No</em>. She couldn't think of these ifs. The only thing she could do was to promise to send word when it was safe to return to the den, should they desire to, to bury their dead. </p><p>When they finally arrived back at their camp, her entire body was stiff, her chest throbbing. When she finally told Sehun that she was bitten, and requested that she be tied to a tree to wait out the morning, he stumbled back, tripping over his own feet as he finally laid eyes on her wrist. </p><p>"Suki-chan? You were bitten?" Sehun gasped. "You can't… What…" </p><p>"It happens." </p><p>It had happened before. There were stories of demon bites turning slayers into demonkind. But there was just as many stories where they'd laugh about the experience over beer, boisterously laughing while showing off their scars in an izakaya.</p><p>Kai was the one who moved first, digging out ropes from his pack as she backed herself against a tree. She winced when he pulled the ropes over her sternum, but she insisted that he bind her as tightly as he should.  </p><p>Chanyeol finally allowed himself to tear as he watched them. It had been a long night.  </p><p>Seulgi sighed. She would be crying too, but she's long past this. Maybe when she was still a kid, she'd have cried. She cried easily when she was younger. <em>Jongin</em> had definitely teased her about it. Now, her life was defined by the motions of the sword and scent, of tracking monsters and killing them. It was inevitable that she would fall, one day. For herself, she had no tears. It was just the way of their lives. </p><p>But it's hard to lose someone, regardless. And even if they weren't quite friends, she tried to reassure him. "If I don’t burn in the sunlight tomorrow, then I'm fine, okay? Don’t fret, Chanyeol-san." </p><p>Sehun rubbed a comforting circle against his companion's shoulders. "She's right. For all we know, she'd be just Seulgi to us when the sun rises properly, right?" </p><p>"Right." Chanyeol swallowed, turning away.  </p><p>"I'll take first watch. You two should rest." Sehun did not bother with the pleasantries of an offer, and instead, pushed Chanyeol lightly against his bedroll. "You, especially, Chanyeol<em>-</em>hyung."</p><p>"Our <em>maknae</em>, ordering us around?" Chanyeol sniffed. "Okay. I can try." He turned to Seulgi again, asking, "You will be okay?" </p><p>"Yes. In the morning, we'll pursue the kitsune."</p><p>Chanyeol levelled a look at her, his eyes still slightly wet. "Alright."  </p><p>She wished she felt as confident as she had sounded. Before he returned to his – their – tent, she let Kai place a rolled-up cloth in her mouth. If she was to become a demon, she hoped to never bite her friends.</p><p>(The incisor marks burned, a reminder of her carelessness.)</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>In the morning, Seulgi did not crumble into dust. </p><p>Through the night, she watched as her companions polished their swords. Chanyeol, Sehun, and Kai tried to keep up the pretence of resting, but they were evidently terrified that Seulgi would turn into a demon in the night and snap their heads off. She was sure that if she had asked, they would have reassured, tell her that they were scared of the kitsune that was still roaming out there.</p><p>Or that they were scared of the demon that bit <em>her</em>. It was out there somewhere, whatever it was. An unknowns were far more terrifying than what they knew. It represented untold power. Powers they didn’t necessarily know how to fight.  </p><p><em>But it was weak, before you found it. All demons can be killed. </em> </p><p>They set off an hour after first light, unwilling to let the trail grow too cold. It was easy, tracking it down. The scent of their own blood was coated on the demon. No doubt, without much of its tails, it could not have ventured too far.   </p><p>She was careless last night. She would not let herself be careless again. Thousand-year-old demons were powerful still even when they were badly injured. A kitsune with many tails had lived for a <em>very</em> long time. She had to be careful. Had to. If she wasn't…  </p><p>It was almost a pity that they had to kill one of them: the world was changing so fast and these demons were one of the only beings that remembered what the world was like before the <em>white demons</em> landed on their shores. Up in China, the demons that swung into the chaos in the Opium Wars came in murderous droves. And that perhaps, the thousands of desperate addicts would have clung to a demon's promises.   </p><p>But there was no use for dwelling on these things.  </p><p>She was right. It was in another burrow, clearly a makeshift one – shallow, and they drew it out with the crackers Sehun had somehow brought in his pack – but sheepishly had to apologise on the morning for <em>forgetting </em>he had them.  </p><p>The kitsune, weakened as it was from their battle, had growled at them. </p><p>But the four of them leaned on the advantage of daylight and the demon's injuries.</p><p>For all the grievances last night, their claim of its last tail came too swiftly. And frankly, rather anticlimactically.</p><p><em>An opening. </em>Seulgi sprinted at it, summoning a water breath to leap at the thread. It dodged, spittle flying in her face as it screamed its fury.</p><p>"<em>Filthy mortals</em>," it growled. One of its paws snapped to intercept Sehun's blade, nearly knocking it out of his hands. </p><p>That was all the distraction Kai and Chanyeol needed. Their movements were exacting in their pincer strike, and a fox demon without its tails could not defend against slayers trained to claim demon heads.  </p><p>Garbled, its last words sounded in Korean, "<em>Imperialists</em>."</p><p>They watched it as it disintegrated, neck-first, its furious eyes never leaving them.</p><p>It was over.</p><p>When all that was left was a pile of smouldering bones, Seulgi clutched at Kai's arm, finally able to make out the demon's final accusation.</p><p>Numbly, she repeated the word. Her parents had never used it in front of her. After all, children never needed words like this. It was familiar to her only as one of those stray phrases she picked up when they were still in the colonial capital.</p><p>Kai exhaled. It was obvious he was too, shaken by what he had just heard. But he turned to grip both of her shoulders, shaking lightly. "Suki, Suki. You're with me?"</p><p>
  <em>What were they? Were they doing the right thing? They shouldn't be here. She wasn't. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be dead. Like the rest of her family. Not working for them. Not… </em>
</p><p>"Suki? Suki."</p><p>She gasped. Right. Kai was here. Kai was here. She sucked in some air. "No, I'm sorry. I… I was just surprised, that's all."</p><p>"You sure?" He raised a sceptical brow, clearly still concerned.</p><p>"I'm fine. I won't compromise our position."</p><p>Kai shook his head. "That's not it. I know you're a capable fighter. But… But whatever you were thinking. Don't let the demon get to you. You can talk to me, you know. If it was what the demon said – you know you've never hurt anyone you weren't meant to hurt, got it?"</p><p>"But…" Her voice trailed off. "<em>They</em> pay us."</p><p>Kai looked like he wanted to turn away, his mouth pursing like he just swallowed something sour. "I know."</p><p>"Then? I… it… sometimes I don’t know what to think. About being a slayer. Working for the Corps."</p><p>Kai shook his head. "Sometimes I don’t know either. But I know that the Corps saved us. Gave us a purpose, and everything that we can't control? I don’t like thinking about that. Anyway, whatever it is, we are doing something good."</p><p>"Something good, huh," she echoed.</p><p>"Yes. That's it. We're killing demons. That's all there is to our job. Anything else–"</p><p>"Anything else that’s out of our control? Don’t think about it," she finished for him, knowing what he'd say.</p><p>They had been through this before. These doubts didn't emerge all the time. But she hated the feeling that perhaps she was betraying<em> something</em>. Whatever that <em>something </em>was, she could never name.</p><p>Sometimes, they felt <em>different</em> from the rest of the Corps. But she always remembered that the Corps gave her something to fight for. Humanity. And whatever else humanity entangled itself in, all these bloody wars and senseless violence against each other – that was not something she and Kai would be able to stop.</p><p>She glanced at her companions, their faces pale. Chanyeol. Sehun. <em>Jongin</em>. Herself. All long risen above the <em>mizunoe</em> level.</p><p>A sharp exhale. The Corps tried. In their ranks stood the poor, the lesser, and the outcasts. Regardless of how the rest of the world looked upon them, in the Corps, they were equal.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>"And what are you doing out of bed, Suki?" </p><p>Seulgi jolted before she turned to greet him, accusingly, "You snuck up on me."</p><p>Kai huffed. "Please. I was being perfectly loud. You should be in bed. Your ribs aren't healed yet. But you're not."</p><p>"Astute observation," she noted. For her ribs they had given her another terrible concoction, shipped directly from the medical stores across the sea. She debated over whether she should invite him over or kick him away. She decided on the former. He'd be insufferable if she tried the latter.</p><p>"If you're awake too, you can join me." She patted the spot next to her, offering some of the blanket.</p><p>"What troubles you?" Kai's brows furrowed.</p><p>They both knew that something was troubling the both of them. Ever since they got back to this safehouse, it had been too quiet. All slayers were plagued by the perennial need to keep going, to be out there on the field. Moving. Doing something.</p><p>After Sehun and Chanyeol had cited another mission from the crows to head down south towards Taikyū. With their departure, things had gotten too quiet again. She hadn’t really noticed how she and Kai had grown used to silences around each other. It wasn’t as if they could have talked every single second of their days, and more often than not, silence between them was probably a virtue. But still, she hadn’t realised how often she’d be lost in her own head like this.</p><p>Kai slid next to her, nestling underneath the warmth of the blanket. They would be chided for venturing outside to the veranda without thicker clothing by the owners of the wisteria house. His legs touched the stone floor beneath him while she kicked at the air.</p><p>"The food over dinner," Seulgi began, slowly. She wasn't sure why it felt significant to her, and the way Kai's brows furrowed further told her of his confusion too. "I haven't had sujebi in a long time. Obāsan finally let me join her in the kitchen this evening."</p><p>Realisation dawned on Kai's face. "You're right. I've not had some in forever too." He closed his eyes. "Your mother made the best sujebi."</p><p>"She did."</p><p>"I loved it."</p><p>"You stole my food all the time!"</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I did." He smiled at her. "But what can I say? It was the best. Hyung beat me up for stealing your food."</p><p>Her gaze turned to the garden. In winter, the bushes were devoid of flowers and the pond frozen over. The night was silent, save for the way the wooden house creaked against the whoosh of the wind.</p><p>"Of course he did. He was just being a good brother."</p><p>"By shoving my face straight into the drain?"</p><p>"You deserved it, loser."</p><p>"I didn’t!" He protested, but she could hear the faint smile in his voice. "Fine, he was a great brother."</p><p>She rolled her eyes. "He was also a huge loser, lest we forget that."</p><p>“How could we." He shook his head. "If… if you could turn back the hands of time, would you want to have…" he paused, unsure ho to phase his question. "Would you have wanted to die in his place?" </p><p>"What brought this on? You know my answer to this. Sometimes I think I would, a thousand times over. Other times, I remember that I do like staying alive, and I regretfully have to say no."  </p><p>He shook his head again. "No, wait. I think what I meant to ask this: would you have preferred that nothing had happened at all? That perhaps, you, your brother, and your mother still lived?"</p><p>She tapped her fingers against the cold wooden floor. "I suppose, in a sense. But…" </p><p>Here, even though the cold, she could smell the faintly sweet air. The fireplace that burned inside the house. The scent of the trees all around them, and in the forest beyond.</p><p>No one was shouting. She could not hear anyone arguing with each other, try as she might. She was free from the drone of the city.</p><p>She looked up at the sky, all ink and stars. Not a trace of smoke to be seen. The night was simply hers to behold.</p><p>Her fingers stopped tapping against the floor, clenching into fists.  </p><p>"If that hadn't happened, I wouldn’t be here," she admitted finally, shame curling in her.</p><p>But Kai saved her from explaining. "I feel the same way."  He too, was not proud of admitting it.</p><p>That comforted her.  </p><p>It was not just her, then. They would rather cry, grieve a hundred days over the loss of their homes, than remain in the walls of their childhood. It wasn't just her. </p><p>She stood up. "Let's go inside."  </p><p>If this was selfishness, it made her cold.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Seulgi <em>hated</em> how the air smelled up north.  </p><p>The air down in Fuzan was sea salt and fish brine. The air slightly north of that was clear, all loamy soil and the faint grass, and the fields belonging to the luckier farmers reeked of fertiliser. Up here, her nose was blinded by the foul, heavy stench of the industries, and the cold clouds of dust blowing southwards from Siberia made her nose run.</p><p> She was sure that the other demon was still out there, somewhere. But the burning coal stung her nose into uselessness and she cursed those fools with all her heart. Her nails dug into her palms. If people <em>died</em> because <em>her</em> blood kept a demon alive…</p><p>Annoyance was laced in her very being, her body sore from the surges of adrenaline whenever a twig cracked in the distance. By her side, Kai's lips were similarly drawn, both of them ready to draw their swords at a moment's notice. She was sure that if Kai so much as said anything above a whisper, she would have drawn her blade to cut at an invisible enemy. She almost wished that Chanyeol and Sehun were still here to lighten the mood.</p><p>"Something's off," she murmured, keeping her back close to his.</p><p>"You don't say." She could hear the forced levity in his voice.</p><p>“It feels worse than the bathhouse, up here. At least it wasn't just us then."</p><p>"Yeah," he agreed, exhaling slightly, shoulders tensing further as the memory came back to him, clear as day. </p><p>They had been far younger than, on the cusp of their mutual promotion from the mizunoto rank. The four of them had been so excited: they had survived the business for slightly more than a year, an uncommon feat, and their bank accounts had swelled accordingly.</p><p>The other two mizunoto with them had hailed from small villages in the mountains of Toyama. They told him that they were good with bows because they hunted for their family; without the Corps, they would never have had been able to leave the mountains.</p><p>Kai had earned more than enough to send half of the money back to his older sisters back in Osaka, with letters he tried to write as often as he could, letters that he hoped their husbands had friends to read for them. From time to time, he would wonder how they were doing, those little nieces and nephews that he knew existed, but never met.</p><p>A promotion would mean more money for clothes. Food. Sweets. Even books. Whatever the kids wanted, he would give it to them.  </p><p>It was supposed to be a routine mission. The crows had come for them as they froze their butts off hunting a monster partial to the cold and within a week their vocabulary had been enriched with new, colourful swears of the Toyama dialect. After the demon died, they had gratefully descended southwards, grateful that the weather warmed. The other two had practically been bubbling with excitement even as they entered the perpetually rainy prefecture to the west of their homeland.</p><p>They had entered a village, one of those places at the edge of the world. Seulgi had grinned, pointing at the grey sea crashing on the shore, motioning that <em>just beyond</em> were the shores of Niigata. He had rolled his eyes at her – Niigata was too far away to be sighted.</p><p>The air had been heavy with salt and heady with the foolish inexperience of kids buoyed by too many successes when they were ambushed in the bathhouse, their swords a room away from them.</p><p>Of the four, only the two water breathers survived.</p><p>(But barely.) </p><p>The image of Kai, hair wet from lying in a pool of his own blood, came to her mind again, unbidden. His usually tanned skin had been grey, his lips so white she thought he was dead.</p><p>She shook her head, trying to clear her mind.</p><p>"Suki? You're okay?" </p><p>"Yeah. Just distracted. Sorry." She stared at him, willing himself to remember that he was here. He was okay. Alive.</p><p>His concerned gaze didn’t quite leave her, but she shrugged it off. They were on the road. Nothing should distract them, not least the things that kept her up at night. The nightmares were meant to only emerge when she was swaddled in a futon.</p><p>It was then Kai heard it, the rustling of the trees growing louder. He could hear them talking, in the distance. Some soldiers, no doubt, maybe heading to another post soon.</p><p>"Soldiers, up in the front," he cautioned.</p><p>They shouldn’t give them any trouble, of course, but they never knew. Hungry soldiers would do anything. The Corps were warned that soldiers weren't the best disciplined bunch, especially not now, when they were drunk on victory.  </p><p>Seulgi groaned. "More of the imperial bastards?"</p><p>"Careful, you wouldn’t want any of them hearing that." Kai allowed himself a small smile. "Won't want to incur any paperwork for punching one of them in the nose again, do we?"</p><p>"Fine. You're right." The paperwork they had to send back to headquarters had agonised her for days, and Kai's ribbing never helped matters. "I just wish… I just wish the Emperor had more sway over these men. Maybe if he appeared to them in their sleep, or something, I don’t know." </p><p>Kai snorted. "Up here? Well, I hope they bow every day at least. Wait."  </p><p>His grip tightened on his sword, ready to draw it in a moment's notice. Seulgi unleashed  a series of colourful swears about the air again.  </p><p>She heard them before she could smell them, to her chagrin. As far she could tell, there was only a section of men boisterously making their way towards them. The two slipped into the trees, hoping that the soldiers would miss them.  </p><p>She smelled it when it was two yards away.  </p><p>Not it.</p><p><em>Them</em>. The stench of demons. And it wasn't just <em>one</em> of them.</p><p>What were the demons doing with the soldiers…?</p><p>Kai caught her drawing her blade, a hushed warning of, "<em>Demons," </em>whispered before the rancour of the soldiers ceased, a series of howls and hoots sounding as they scented <em>human.</em> </p><p>Their blades are drawn just as the demons darted out of the darkness, a dozen – <em>no </em>more she realised with dread – to lunge at them. She swung, blindly, just as one of them neared, and heard it chortle at the clumsy prey before it.</p><p>"Human!"  </p><p>Damned would she let a demon get the better of her. She breathed, letting the warmth of the water breath saturate her lungs, the oxygen speed from her lungs to her heart to the tips of her toes and the pads of her fingers. Her body sung as she started moving, letting her instincts take over, slipping into the familiar sword dance.  </p><p>By her side, Kai moved with surety, their years of camaraderie choreographed into a ceaseless swing, swish, step, <em>watch each other's back. </em>He knew the sounds of her rhythmic steps, quick, short steps that dodged where she could and tried to press into striking distance to cut a demon's head off as cleanly as she could. He was less picky about where he struck, and his blade shaved off the sides of a demon, and he took advantage of its shock to swing his blade against the demon's neck.  </p><p>The demons here fought like any other demon. Darting blows that they had to dodge lest wrist a dislocated shoulder. Angry teeth they swivelled away from so they wouldn't become like them. Claws swiping for their prey, beasts that they had to put down.  </p><p>Things were going well, by their assessment. Within minutes, they had felled at least three demons, two of them lesser creatures that were barely stronger than a starving wolf. But hungry prey were always dangerous – they were feral, and fought the most unpredictably.</p><p>A heavy fist collided with his ribs, knocking the air out of him. On instinct, he swung his blade wildly, hoping against hope that it would protect him and not shatter against the ironbark skin of a greater demon.   </p><p>She hated having to fight soldiers. Even if they were employing demons. It made her question too many things. She shouldn't have to fight a soldier in the first place. She was a part of the Empire. The Empire's soldiers shouldn't turn on them. But they wanted to kill her, and Kai, and they could not let that stand.</p><p>Not a single soldier could remain, demon or not. A single whiff of this battle getting back to any of their superiors – both hers and theirs – would be troublesome. More than mere paperwork. She did not doubt that the Corps would find some way to salvage it if needed: demons were a threat no one in a nice suit wanted in their backyard. But it wouldn't hurt to be sure.  </p><p>Only that these demons fought like the demons that they were. And the soldiers who fought with them had rifles that would hit her at range, and if she was too slow, she'd be gutted by the end of a bayonet. Neither of them were choices she enjoyed.  </p><p>So she fought like how she was trained, breathing deeply and letting the call of the waves guide her. She cut through the humans, felling them as quickly and cleanly as she could. Some of them begged for mercy, of which she could afford none. She would probably think back on tonight in due course and grieve about such senselessness, but for now, she wanted to live.  </p><p>The demons, however, gave her more trouble.</p><p>Kai heard her pained grunt as one of the bastards flung Seulgi against a tree, the resounding thump making Kai wince. That would hurt. Seulgi’s rib had just recently patched itself over. She wasn’t in the mood for it to break again.</p><p><em>Idiot</em>. <em>She was an idiot.</em></p><p>Kai tightened his grip on his sword, pushing forward, trying to cut through five demons to get to her. He wouldn’t let them have her like this. Not ever.</p><p>He heard them before he could roll out of the way, busy fending off the larger demon in front of him. It grabbed at him, its arms wrapping tightly against his shoulders. He thrashed, but there were–</p><p><em>Kai. Jongin. </em> </p><p>
  <em>No, no, no— </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He can’t die. </em>
</p><p>She breathed and swung her blade against another of those brats on her left, and she struck forth like a whirling tide as the lesser demons charged her together. She had to keep moving. If she stopped, even for a single second, she was sure that one of those fangs would come down on her. The lesser demons snarled at her, eyes crazed with hunger. She snarled back, promising a swift death to every last one of them. <em>Demons</em>.  </p><p>The first thing she registered when the haze of her sword dance faded: the acrid coal/demon of the air was worse than when they started the fight.</p><p>The next was that <em>the demon</em> was right there, its breath warm against her cheek, its chest heaving as it snapped off the head of another demon to Seulgi's side, flinging both body and head away before it leapt away.  </p><p>Another loud crack rang against the night air. </p><p>She whipped around again, watching it continue a bloody rampage into the night tearing into men and demons alike with brutal efficiency, tossing entire demonic hulks to the side like they weighed <em>nothing</em> at all. Even in the dark, she could see it twist heads into unnatural angles, necks bending in ways that were incompatible with life. She nearly choked when it ripped into one of the soldiers, its pale hands driving into his chest before she heard a nauseating, squelching sound.</p><p>Only when the last one fell, ashes swirling in the wind, did she realise that none of these demons smelled like the ones she had fought back home: even in death, none of them would cry for the last days of their human lives. The dissonance rang in her ears and she clutched at her head, weakly, trying to shake the feeling off.  </p><p>In the stillness that followed, she retched.  </p><p>When she finally looked up, the demon was far closer, leering as Seulgi staggered backwards, fumbling for her blade. </p><p>She had <em>drunk </em>from one of the human soldiers, Seulgi realized, numbly, as she stared at its bloodied mouth, the dark liquid smeared across her lips. It <em>just drank</em>.</p><p><em>Oh spirits. She was fucked.</em> </p><p>Seulgi drew a trembling blade, eyeing that thin thread along the white pillar of her throat. </p><p>It should have been her first instinct to bring the blade down, to watch it cleave through that thin layer of skin. To feel that splash of blood against her skin, knowing she would cut down one more of the accursed brethren responsible for the deaths of everyone she had cared for.</p><p>Unlike a few in the Corps, she had never quite relished killing. Nonetheless, it always left a cold well or satisfaction in her. When she had trained under Kamado-sensei, he told her that mercy was not a weakness, but for demons whose every being burned for flesh and they ached to kill you - you had to strike first.  </p><p>It was just a demon. A demon who had probably killed dozens in her time.</p><p><em>Kill her, Seulgi. You have to.</em> </p><p>Those eyes never left her.  </p><p>Her hands shook. It was not quite the same as before. Horns ceased to spout from its head, and its skin no longer looked like she took a dive in a chalky pond. Instead, it looked all too human. Its jaw was tilted upward, dark eyes blazing.</p><p>The blade clattered to the ground. She too, fell beside it.</p><p>
  <em>Letting your guard down around a demon? A mistake.</em>
</p><p>The demon snarled, expression darkening with <em>something</em> that Seulgi could not place. Before Seulgi could stop her, the demon snatched up the blade from the ground with a snarl, impossibly quick. An arm connected with her shoulder, shoving her to the ground. The blade's tip rested on the bob of her own throat.  </p><p>“I can steal your heart. Kill you. Break all your bones. Make you <em>beg</em> before you die.”</p><p>She swallowed.</p><p><em>“Know this</em>, little human.”</p><p>Her neck warmed, a thin sliver of blood flowing from the fresh cut.</p><p>“In this world, you kill, or you die."</p><p>A brow was raised, challengingly. She dimly registered that the demon's voice was low, slightly scratchy, and the Japanese that left its lips were lilted with a rounded accent.</p><p>
  <em>Fool. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mercy will get you killed. If this was how you died… Kai would laugh at you. </em>
</p><p>It was Seulgi's turn to tighten her neck, pull her head away from her sword in defiance. "You're still talking, demon."</p><p>She jerked backward, praying that the blade would not come down on her as she twisted her legs up to grab at the demon's waist to tug her to the ground with her. If the demon <em>allowed her </em>to do so, or was too weak to put up a fight, she couldn't tell. But it <em>just </em>drank. <em>But</em> if was the former… questions burned in her head. For later – if ever.</p><p>Below her, the demon's mouth was pulled into a half smile.</p><p>Then it laughed.</p><p>A strange, hoarse sound, too loud for the now-still night. In the scuffle, the sword had fallen an arm's length away from them – another error. She had let herself be distracted. Overcome with mercy. It should never happen again.  </p><p>She hurried to pluck the sword from the ground, a hand keeping the demon's shoulder pinned to the ground, muscles drawn tight. </p><p>"Oh, again? This is getting tiring."  </p><p>Seulgi's sword arm trembled.  </p><p><em>Kill the demon</em>. </p><p>It was all she had known to do. All she had trained to do.</p><p>She had spent her years running up and down misty hills, doing thousands of push ups, leaping from tree to tree and falling from one the first time she had tried.</p><p>She had to get her bones set countless times and balms applied to every nasty scrap. Drank the worst teas ever known to demon slayer kind after a series of particularly nasty tumbles – thinking about that bathhouse demon still coated her tongue with that pungent, bitter memory of whatever the healers had concocted for her in the ensuing aftermath.</p><p>She had killed many of such foul-smelling scum in her days in the Land of the Rising Sun, but now… </p><p>The demon lay below her, pliant, its gaze too blithe for Seulgi's liking. While the thunder between Seulgi's ribcage grew louder each second, the demon's mouth only quirked to the side.  </p><p>And it didn't smell of demon. Not truly.  </p><p><em>(She was a fool, that was what she was.) </em> </p><p>With a frustrated huff, Seulgi pushed herself from the ground, letting her sword arm fall to her side.</p><p>The same taunting laughter, but tinged with disbelief.</p><p>"You are an odd one, little human." </p><p>As the demon pushed itself upright, it glanced at the bleeding body of her companion. An odd expression stole across its face, something Seulgi can't quite place in the darkness.</p><p>"You'll need help with him," the demon said as it gestured at Kai. "You require some help. I will give it to you." The demon nodded, punctuating its resolve. "You spared me." She added, by way of explanation. </p><p>It was right, Seulgi admitted, reluctantly. Seulgi is still too unfamiliar with the lands up north. And with Kai’s injuries, she isn’t sure she will make it back to the safehouse with him weighing her down.</p><p>So she nodded, shortly. The demon lifted Kai carefully. The ease in which she carried him belied how small she is, especially when compared to Kai. Her grip remained firm even as they began running out of the forest. Somehow, she wasn’t surprised that the demon knew to run southwards, back where the safehouse was located. Demons like that in this ancestral land of hers were entirely unfathomable to Seulgi.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Kim Jongin, who was there when she was still a kid in the streets of Tsuruhashi, running about the streets with her brother. The siblings never wanted to be at home: Seulgi could smell the growing lump under the hard curves of her mother's ribcage, and knew she would be gone soon, just like Grandmother Jeong from down the road a year prior. </em>
</p><p><em>Kim Jongin was her age, a full lipped pretty boy that her brother claimed to despise, but allowed the younger kid to tussle him to the ground when they fought. She did not care much for him at first. She remembered that he used to hide behind his mother's skirts when he was three.</em> </p><p>
  <em>As they grew older, he said the darnest things. And even then, when she did not truly know how to fight and in the days her mother tried to insist that she stay with her to help sew a foreman's shirt so they might earn their dinner, she decked him so hard he fell to the ground for saying something ridiculous. He never told on her. </em>
</p><p><em>She let him draw with her in the mud after that, and in turn, he let her play with the ball a distant relative gifted him before they passed on. </em> </p><p>
  <em>He was never quite able to sneak up on her. But neither could she. He always heard her coming. Told her that he could tell it was her. Told her to stop walking in that light shuffle he had come to recognise as hers. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She couldn't remember when she had first started calling him Kai. Was it when he first started school? He couldn't very well go with his name advertising his ever-dishonourable fate of having been born zainichi after all. She knew it had been before they left Osaka, and soon after, she followed suit, insisting for her poor mother to abandon their common tongue outside their home. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>They passed the final selection test together. The wisterias swirled in the trees behind the two kids locked in a tight hug, delighted.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>* * *</p><p>
  
</p><p>By the time they arrived at the wisteria house, Kai’s breathing was shallow, but he was still alive. The sun was slowly starting to rise, the ink of the night giving way to the cloudy sapphire.</p><p>After ensuring that Kai would receive the attention he needed, Seulgi returned outside to find the demon waiting outside the house, unwilling and, perhaps unable, to enter the house.</p><p>Under the shadow of the tall everlilac trees, her small frame was pulled taut and proud. Her tattered grey garb was stained brown from the dirt and blood. In the pale morning light, Seulgi could smell the rust and iron of the red that crusted on the demon in the night. Her arm shook when her eyes locked with the demon's unflinching violet eyes.  </p><p>"Thank you. Without your help, Kai would’ve died." she finally said, her voice shaking from the events of the night even as she willed it to still. She couldn’t tell if it was from exhaustion, or shock, or relief, or perhaps all of those things.</p><p>“I owe you a debt,” the demon insisted, shaking its head. And more mirthfully, for reasons that Seulgi could not guess at, she asked, “Kai?”</p><p>“Yes, Kai. What? Why are you laughing?”</p><p>“<em>Kai</em> he is then. Just as you are <em>Suki</em>?”</p><p>“W-what?”</p><p>“As I said. I owe you a debt. I can hardly not know the identities of my saviours.”</p><p>There was something more to that. But Seulgi couldn’t quite puzzle it out, nor was she sure that the demon would be truthful if she asked. “And… you are?”</p><p>A low smile, and a carefully stretched out answer, “Irene.”</p><p>
  <em>Ah-ii-rin. Owe. Irene, who still owed her a debt, refusing to give Seulgi her name? </em>
</p><p>The demons she had killed had never been quite like <em>this</em>.  </p><p><em>But even so, should you spare her? </em> </p><p>Seulgi owed her too.</p><p>“Irene,” she tested the name on her tongue.</p><p>It was foreign. She guessed that it wasn’t the demon’s birthname, if demons such as she were once human. But amongst beings that treaded the line of sprits and the living, names were powerful. She understood that this demon did not want to hand her name over to a human, however indebted she might be.</p><p>“Irene,” she repeated, less unsure this time.</p><p>The demon’s smile only grew wider at the sound, her eyes stitching into – <em>a demon’s eyes cannot crinkle in a smile. </em>She was not supposed to think that a demon’s regal face looked pretty. But <em>Irene </em>was smiling at her in a way that Seulgi thought was <em>approval</em>, odd as the idea was to her.</p><p>Her hands shook. This would not do.</p><p>"I was told that the demons I had to kill were north of the river. You should go. Now. Before I change my mind."</p><p>Irene did not need to be told twice. In a blink, she was gone.</p><p>(That irksome smile remained.)</p><p>With one last stare towards the edge of the horizon, where the demon had already long vanished from her sight, she shook the light snow out of her hair and walked towards the cawing of the crows.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><span class="u">Setting Notes</span><br/>Firstly, I apologise for any historical inaccuracies, and well if I chafed against cultural sensibilities. I enjoy history/Japanese/East Asian studies, but I can't claim to be an expert on the subject matter. My own (great)grandparents would probably gasp in horror for not villainising the Japanese in totality; the reality of the Empire is a very messy one imo. I couldn't find much work on the social realities of subjects in the Japanese Empire in English online. History as a discipline has <i>conventionally</i> focused on "grander" things like wars and politics. I would assume that more information can be found in Japanese (...and also usually in books).  </p><p>•	You may notice that Seulgi &amp; Kai are more pro? Japanese in this chapter. That was an intentional choice on my part, where I used their adoption into the Demon Slayer Corps' ranks as my own justification. The headcanon here is that the Corps adopted them as kids, and that they have a stronger attachment to their Japanese-leaning identities. </p><p>•	Most (Zainichi) Koreans resided in Osaka pre- &amp; post-war. IIRC it had something to do with industrial needs &amp; the convenient shipping routes. The Zainichi Korean topic is... complicated. Identity issues (legal/political), and long-standing discrimination, and also the notion that many in this "group" have resided in Japan for generations - the option to "return" to North Korea or South Korea is an iffy one. <i>Apparently</i> the way they speak Korean will seem odd to the average South Korean...?   </p><p>•	I couldn't actually figure out if the naming laws for Koreans applied to the Zainichi in Japan, or if it only applied to subjects of the colonial administration in Korea. Anyway, pre-1939, colonial Koreans were not allowed to take up Japanese names until the Japanese Empire decided on an assimilation policy instead. If you are bored/free/interested, I recommend reading about the different ways in which Taiwan/Korea/Manchuria were governed by the Japanese. IDK if banking and economic systems get you excited but y'know.</p><p>•	According to the wikia - I didn't manage to follow up on the original source - Demon Slayer Corps get paid 200,000 Yen. I'm not sure if it's by month or year. It is a horrendous sum of money: Given that KNY is likely set in the early Taisho period, i.e. 1912 to 1926, a <a href="http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057%2F9781403907103_2.pdf">downloadable paper</a> suggests that the in the late 1910s, the conversion rate was approximately 1US$ to ¥2 (p. 18). If you adjust 1917's USD100,000 to 2021 money on some random online calculator, that's like... more money than I will ever get paid even if the stated sum was salary/month :( </p><p>-------------</p><p>Also... yes it's just 10.2k word chunk. i originally envisioned it to be split into 3 parts.</p><p>I had this part done /months/ ago, and at least 4k words under "part iii". technically i've also plotted part ii out, skeletally, but brain has refused to Word for it. i've decided to just put what i have out so far (the OG version killed kai off, but i was also like... that's a hole idk if i can write myself out of.) i clearly spent too much time trying to build the world but... yeah well. If you're one of the few who have read this because I was trying to figure out what to do with this piece, then yes you'll notice I didn't kill poor Kai off (...ok if someone spots the Dead!Kai text that I forgot to edit out please lmk lol).</p><p>I have to be upfront and say that I don't know when, if I will ever, finish this fic. But hey if you want to add me on Genshin Impact (Asia) server :"D For whatever reason I can be yelled at on <a href="http://twitter.com/goldfinchex">Twitter</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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